Palin linked electoral success to prayer of Kenyan witchhunter

The pastor whose prayer Sarah Palin says helped her to become governor of Alaska founded his ministry with a witchhunt against a Kenyan woman who he accused of causing car accidents through demonic spells.

At a speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God on June 8 this year, Mrs Palin described how Thomas Muthee had laid his hands on her when he visited the church as a guest preacher in late 2005, prior to her successful gubernatorial bid.

In video footage of the speech, she is seen saying: “As I was mayor and Pastor Muthee was here and he was praying over me, and you know how he speaks and he’s so bold. And he was praying “Lord make a way, Lord make a way.”

“And I’m thinking, this guy’s really bold, he doesn’t even know what I’m going to do, he doesn’t know what my plans are. And he’s praying not “oh Lord if it be your will may she become governor,” no, he just prayed for it. He said “Lord make a way and let her do this next step. And that’s exactly what happened.”

She then adds: “So, again, very very powerful, coming from this church,” before the presiding pastor comments on the “prophetic power” of the event.

An African evangelist, Pastor Muthee has given guest sermons at the Wasilla Assembly of God on at least 10 occasions in his role as the founder of the Word of Faith Church, also known as the Prayer Cave.

Pastor Muthee founded the Prayer Cave in 1989 in Kiambu, Kenya after “God spoke” to him and his late wife Margaret and called him to the country, according to the church’s website.

The pastor speaks of his offensive against a demonic presence in the town in a trailer for the evangelical video “Transformations”, made by Sentinel Group, a Christian research and information agency.

“We prayed, we fasted, the Lord showed us a spirit of witchcraft resting over the place,” Pastor Muthee says.

After the spirit was broken, the crime rate dropped to almost zero and there was “explosive church growth” while almost every bar in the town closed down, the video says.

The full Transformations video featuring Pastor Muthee’s story has recently been removed from YouTube but the rest of the story is detailed in a 1999 article in the Christian Science Monitor, as well as on numerous evangelical websites.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, six months of fervent prayer and research identified the source of the witchcraft as a local woman called Mama Jane, who ran a “divination” centre called the Emmanuel Clinic.

Her alleged involvement in fortune-telling and the fact that she lived near the site of a number of fatal car accidents led Pastor Muthee to publicly declare her a witch responsible for the town’s ills, and order her to offer her up her soul for salvation or leave Kiambu.

Says the Monitor, “Muthee held a crusade that “brought about 200 people to Christ”.” They set up round-the-clock prayer intercession in the basement of a grocery store and eventually, says the pastor “the demonic influence – the ‘principality’ over Kiambu –was broken”, and Mama Jane fled the town.

According to accounts of the witchhunt circulated on evangelical websites such as Prayer Links Ministries, after Pastor Muthee declared Mama Jane a witch, the townspeople became suspicious and began to turn on her, demanding that she be stoned. Public outrage eventually led the police to raid her home, where they fired gunshots, killing a pet python which they believed to be a demon.

After Mama Jane was questioned by police – and released – she decided it was time to leave town, the account says.

Pastor Muthee has frequently referred to this witchhunt in his sermons as an example of the power of “spiritual warfare”. In October 2005, he delivered ten sermons at the Wasilla Assembly of God, the audio of which was available on the church’s website until it was removed around the time Mrs Palin’s candidacy was announced. The blog Irregular Times has listings and screen grabs of the sermons.

It was during that these sermons that Mrs Palin, who was then preparing for her gubernatorial run, was anointed by Pastor Muthee. His intercession, she says, was “awesome”.

Her June 8 speech was to mark the graduation of students from the Wasilla Assembly of God’s Masters’ Commission, which, as Pastor Ed Kalins explains, believes Alaska will be the refuge for American evangelicals upon the coming “End of Days”. After her speech, Mrs Palin was presented with an honorary Masters’ Commission diploma.

Comments

[David Bennington]

Are these people idiots, or what? The mix of religion and politics creates the most dangerous form of government. Bigotry is combined with idolatory; common sense and humanity flies out of the window and everything is sacrificed to some totally subjective 'divine leading'. Both we and the US need a wholly secular state where religion is given no privileges.

[Greg Lorriman]

Witches in Africa are no joke: they aren't like the benign picture of the western Witch. They are violently superstitious, and nothing is beyond their capabilities.

In Africa Witches are a serious problem.

[Alan]

Barking !

[Balbou]

Are you just kidding ? Even putting apart all my rationality, I can't believe this is not a hoax...

[David]

Why are we surprised? This woman wants Creationism taught in schools and polar bears slaughtered so the US can drill for oil in Alaska. What's a little voodoo thrown in going to harm?

[Scott Benowitz]

Your point being.... ...?

[Spencer]

Cuckoo Cuckoo Cuckoo. Isn't it funny that evangelicals think that we shouldn't use the one gift that god gave us which distinguishes us from animals - our brains!

[DON]

It's rather mistaken to think that Evangelism involves NOT using one's brains or reason. On the contrary, it's mainly those who are skeptical of religion and all things spiritual that end up seeing religion as some sort of wierd fantasy or joke.
Faith is real and it's amazing how limited the human mind and capability appear once you view it from a Spiritual perspective and it's not something you can make up. I'm talking Christian faith here by the way...

[John funk]

Re Kalin - power of prayer and witchcraft.
Its all in the Bible - the same book that says Israel will be destroyed, the people scattered worldwide and return by plane "as birds flying", and be restored as a nation, plus many other predictions that have come to pass.

And in it Jesus talks about a heaven and a hell - so where does that leave you?

[eric ct]

Hmmmmm. He still makes more sense than Jerimiah Wright!

[BlueMax372]

And the point of this article is just exactly what? Has the author ever visited Africa or, for that matter, Haiti?

[Inconvenient Truth]

I love the comments from those who preach separation of religion from government, yet support regimes who literally worship questionable environmental theories. The truth is that the US was founded by Christians and has enjoyed success because of adherence to Judaeo-Christian values. Yes, we are the good guys and have prospered because of it.

Now regarding the witch thing...who the hell knows.

[tuma]

if you think moose-hunting and Bible-thumping is what this nation needs go ahead and vote saint Palin. What did you get from saint-born-again Bush?

[patrik]

Oh Boy!

[Shannon]

I love any reporting that lets us bring back the Rev. Wright clips.

Who has the longest relationship with a crazy pastor??? Let the games begin!!

[mike]

well, he and she are up against Obama this time...a candidate for AntiChrist of the Last Days...
well, give it a try....good luck

[L Haris]

American candidate Palin had not much to do with the Kenyan religious leader apart from sharing a stage for a few minutes.
Witches are a serious problem, and Africans seem to recognise the spiritual realm much more than northern europeans. A reader thinks it's barking? So much for cultural sensitivity eh. Have not come a long ways in the course of history have we. The spiritual cannot be intellectualised. Additionally, it plays a large role in American politics no matter what your worldview.

[Bizarre]

On the one hand, I'm an Obama voter because I think his policies will help the USA regain international influence, stabilize the economy, improve education, and begin to pay down our massive debts. On the other hand, if Palin wins (who talks about McCain anymore?), it'll be the best reality TV show ever! The fun just never ends. I wake up every day wondering what the crazy Palins are up to now. Teen pregnancy? War on Russia? Pigs with lipstick? Curing gays? And now, witch doctors helping her ascend to power? You can't make this stuff up, people, this is 100% pure comedy gold.

[davenjan]

He was only a guest speaker at her church. At least you CAN say that she wasn't a member of his church for 20 years like Barack Obama was with Rev. "Anti-white bigot" Wright.

[George Masters]

Having lived in Africa (Kenya included) for over thirty-five years, I am fully aware of the power of witchcraft. You really have to be there!
Doubt its existence? Why not check out any media outlet and see the battle between good and evil where evil descends to unconscionable depths. Demonic is what some would call it. Outrageous is what others would call it. Whatever term you use, there are many educated folks who see the struggle between good and evil as a spiritual one for the allegiance of people's lives.

{That Pastor Muthee prayed over Governor Palin - so what? Who among us (who have a faith based life) would not be appreciative of prayers?}

C.S. Lewis (a brilliant Oxbridge professor wrote a classic "Screwtape Letters" on the workings of the demonic world -- check it out and enjoy the redings.

[Міша]

Compared to the "God damn America!" pastor, who preached to Obamas for decades, the "achievements" of this guy, who visited Wasilla only a few times, is fairly benign...

[Scott]

The only crazy stuff I see are the comments left by some of the leftist types out there. The story rather craftily avoids clearly stating whether or not Pallin knew about this guys witchhunting background. Also, this guy wasn't her main religious advisor and leader like Obama's Rev. Wright. Rev. Wright is clearly a dangerous nutbag that may not want to do away with witches, but does want to establish black dominion over other races.

Kill all the polar bears? Why has their population increased recently? Besides, if it comes between human developement and the polar bears I say wrap the baby humans in Polar bear furs.

[Brett Pedersen]

Of course, the secular progressives do not believe that there are such things as good and evil. That is why they tend towards evil.

[KAM]

I lived in Africa for 13 years. You would be hard pressed to find an African that does NOT believe in witchcraft. That proves nothing about the truth of the matter... except that commenters here don't seem to know much about Africa.

[The Haimster]

Well, if we are going judge our politicians by the religions to which they subscribe, at least we know that Barack 's church is completely mainstream, not in any way racist, and always preaches American exceptionalism.

God Damn America!